What is a hymen?

What is the hymen?

Hymen, many people think of it as a membrane that covers the vaginal opening and is intact like cling film. 

And guess what?In addition to humans, donkeys, horses, cows, sheep, pigs, chimpanzees, all have hymens, hymens, usually in the middle, there is a 1-1.5 cm diameter hole through which menstruation is discharged from the body.

Hymen this hole, the shape is strange, there are umbrella-shaped, leaf-shaped, crescent-shaped, half-moon, round, oval, ring, sieve, star-shaped, septum separated by the shape of more than 30 kinds.

All of these shapes and sizes are native hymens.

Bleeding the first time you have sex?

Do you have to bleed the first time you have sex to be considered a virgin?

This is probably the most common misconception, as some women don't even bleed the first time they have sex!

Some young girls can break their hymens through strenuous exercise at a young age, such as riding a horse or cycling.

Or maybe the man's penis is too small, or the woman's hole too big, for the hymen to be damaged at all during sex, and it doesn't bleed.

This rumour has survived because the ancients married too early! (In many cases, men married and had children at the age of 16 and women at 14!)  

At this time, the girl is not fully developed, the hymen is very thick, easy to bleed and get infections during intercourse, but men treat bleeding as normal.

It is also normal not to bleed the first time you have sex. The hymen is there to protect the underdeveloped reproductive system, and this piece of flesh becomes thinner as it matures, and even if it is broken during first intercourse by movement or the use of a tampon, it will not bleed, but it will be painful.

The hymen is like a piece of elastic 'skin' that grows near the vaginal opening.

In adult women, the hymen is about 1-2mm thick and contains connective tissue, small blood vessels and nerve endings.

The younger the woman, the smaller and thicker the hymen; the older the woman, the larger and thinner the hymen.

Like a balloon, it gets bigger and thinner as it blows up and breaks more easily.

Renewable hymen

The hymen is renewable! The hymen is renewable! The hymen is renewable! Say it three times.

It grows back on its own without surgery or treatment.

The hymen changes throughout a woman's life as she grows up.

Contrary to the stereotypical image of the hymen, it doesn't break and disappear after the first time we have sex - it stays with us for life.

In newborn babies, the hymen is quite thick, and as we approach school age, it takes on a crescent-shaped appearance, with a thinner hymen at the front of the vagina and a thicker one at the back.

In women who have given birth vaginally, the hymen is less visible and the friction of the birth canal causes it to thin and break.

In menopausal women who have never given birth, the hymen can thicken again.

Finally, the integrity of the hymen is not necessarily related to whether or not a woman has had sexual intercourse.

On the other hand, if you're long enough, every inch you explore is new.

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